This may be too much information, but here goes..
I'm an older guy (39) with friends my age and below. I tried wakeboarding back in Florida, but never got very good (wake to wake.. 180's.. bout it). I'm now in tahoe and looking at wakeboard boats again.
Is it practical to think it's reasonably possible to find a decent boat for under $20k? With a heater and hot shower preferably (tahoe's fricken cold).
I'd rather wakesurf than worry about getting inverted (I say that now.. but didn't stop me from trying back flips last time I gave wakeboarding a go).
I've search my local craigs list, boat trader, and ebay without any luck for a vdrive (might have to go direct drive I guess).

Well at least you guys didn't just say "hell no". Cash in hand isn't a problem.. driving just depends on how far. Some repairs or adding a feature or 2 would be ok too.
For wakesurfing i really want the vdrive correct?

Dang, think of how successful Bayliner could have been if they would have stuck with that v-drive! Not a bad looking boat, especially for circa 96-97. We have a 2000 Moomba Mobius V pretty loaded. Just got in on trade. Can do $24k, but might go pending soon.

Tahoe gets pretty old in a small boat pretty quick. It's certainly a big water lake. Big boats for big lakes. Unless your only planning on using it at sunrise and sunset, you might want a bit more boat under you.

New upholstery (in shop now) custom hlcd 2000 watt stereo, v drive 500 hours, 2nd owner, acme 911 prop,1200 lbs ballast. Was going to sell next year but I'd like to upgrade to something larger this year. I'll sell it to you or anyone on wakeworld for 20k before it goes on cl for 22k

Mercruiser mag 350 mpi. I replaced the fuel pump, ballast pump, fuel filter, impeller, prop, last year. Stereo consists of 3 amps, capacitator, dual batteries with perko switch, 12 inch solobaric sub. Very clear and loud. I'll throw in 1200 lbs of ballast with pumps for another $700, and a ton of life jackets and a couple wakeboards for another $400. I think about 500 hours. Previous owners are friends and bought new.

Upholstery will be done in 2 weeks. Also has snap out carpet for easy cleaning. In refinishing the teak right now. Also added sea deck at various places last year for grip when getting in and out of the boat.

Haha. I don't NEED to sell. Wife wants to keep it. I want a malibu. I'd like to see someone get a good boat here though. It's been a great first boat. 20k is 100% firm if anyone is interested. I'd hate to sell and not even enjoy my new interior.

Well.. looks like I have a few weeks to look around before your's is ready anyway. I'd prefer to stay away from fat sac's, but seems like that's not going to happen in my price range. Perfect Pass seems to be another option people really like. We had to work the throttle and the rider had to just deal with it.

Well.. looks like I have a few weeks to look around before your's is ready anyway. I'd prefer to stay away from fat sac's, but seems like that's not going to happen in my price range. Perfect Pass seems to be another option people really like. We had to work the throttle and the rider had to just deal with it.

FYI, if you plan on surfing with ANY boat (ok except maybe a brand new malibu or nauti) plan on buying fat sacs. Good luck with your search.

gotcha.. Do you just put them on the floor or ?? (I know you weight the port side heavy for a regular footer like myself.. just mean.. do they go in lockers or people just have to deal with walking around them)
How much weight are people running for surfing? Maybe that SAN with the 3000lb's here in town is worth a look after all (@25K asking and salt water use.. I was shying away from it)

Jason, PP is almost a must have but I wouldn't let it completely affect your buying decision. It can be easily added(the newest GPs versions) for less than $1500.

AS for the ballast. I don't know a single boat in that price range that will surf worth a crap with stock hard tanks. Pretty much every one will need fatsacs(whether plumbed or not) in addition. For either of those Centurions(or any other vdrive for that matter) you are going to want the biggest sacks possible plumbed into the rear vdrive compartments.

Jason, the 2001 Super Air Nautique would suck in Lake Tahoe because of how shallow the v is on back of the boat plus how low the free board is on it you would be scared to death in it sometimes on Tahoe. Go for the 2002 centurion it has a deep v hull so it would go great in Tahoe.

for what you're looking to do that centurion is a decent deal. and i'll echo the fat sac comment. i dont quite understand why you want to stay away. Fat sacs can all be hidden in a Vdrive boat. and should be. unless you're going to put over 3k lbs in it.

rear lockers hold 750 to 1k each ... ski locker holds 400-500 ... IBS holds ~300 then you can stick 400-500 under the port side seats.

Those Elite V deals are solid. I sold my 2006 for considerably more money... Same hull and motor, different options and accessories maybe. They surf well with ~750 in the rear locker and some bow weight.

just dealt with them on the floor once or twice back in Florida and they were a pain. Add to that the unknown of what the tahoe inspection says about them.. I was weary. Sounds like I have nothing to be weary about though.
When that one gets out of the shop, I'll most likely make a trip down to Sac. have some friends down there anyway and lived there for a summer a while back.. should be a fun trip.

just dealt with them on the floor once or twice back in Florida and they were a pain. Add to that the unknown of what the tahoe inspection says about them.. I was weary. Sounds like I have nothing to be weary about though.
When that one gets out of the shop, I'll most likely make a trip down to Sac. have some friends down there anyway and lived there for a summer a while back.. should be a fun trip.

In the mean time, I'll keep an eye out for a "smokin deal" too

So long as you only boat in Tahoe, you'll only need the inspection/decontamination once. They put a little tag on your bow eye each time you pull out. If you disconnect the winch strap, it breaks the tag. The sacs won't matter at that point.

Having plumbed in a ballast system and adding PP in the last two seasons, I will say it is worth the investment and time. I ran my boat for 10years without them and now I feel kinda stupid not doing it sooner. I would also highly recommend an FAE. It would actually be the first thing on my list. Then ballast, then PP. I also added a Comptech Trick Release last season. It is one of my favorite upgrades. We teach a lot of people and one of my biggest fears with newbies that don't quite have their sea legs underneath them is that they will get a limb caught in the rope. That is a potentially horrible outcome. I feel a lot better about it now that I have one. It is really cool. Great guys as well. They make everything in-house. http://skyski.com/store/comptech-saf...k-release.html

Sanger makes a great rough water ride boat even with the low freeboard, that being said I would not want to be caught up on a choppy Tahoe with anything less than a V237 or V230. Both of which don't meet a $20k budget.

If the OP is patient he might be able to find a 2002-2004 V230. I have seen then down in the low 20 range before although that might have been a few years ago when the prices were still low from all the Repo boats.

Someone that got a great deal on a repo boat should "pay it forward" and sell it to go ol me! (been in California too long apparently )

In reality, if the wind is blowing hard enough for 3-4' rollers, I'm probably doing something else (sure.. I want to be able to safely get through those, but just enough to get out of the lake and do something else)

Being that you are on Tahoe and myself owning property on the South Shore you are going to want a nice deep v hull for Tahoe. Both those Centurions in this post have that. I would look Centurion, Sanger, or you will probably even be able to find an early 2000's Malibu 23lsv in that price range. For surfing any boat you buy you will rip out factory ballast and install bigger sacs. So it actually benefits you to start with nothing there and install your own system because it will be twice as fast as any ballast system from those early 2000 v drive years.

All in all the Maristar 210 would be another decent option for Tahoe n Surfing it's very deep inside and has tons of room. It was also the boat in the MC line with the deepest V entry on the hull to give it a bit smoother ride.

Good luck in the search but if I was looking for a 20k Tahoe Surf boat I would go visit both of those centurions in the links it's hard to beat what they offer at that price point .

I vote supra ssv's for the large freeboard.... Can be found under or close to 20 if you search hard enough.

Those early 2000's SSV's are actually pretty low profile. Did you mean 21V? Those definitely have the freeboard but suck at surfing and didn't start till 04 or 05 so finding them for under 30k might be hard.

That 2004 LSV is a really good deal in my opinion. It isn't every day you see an SV25 vdrive hull for under 30k.

New upholstery (in shop now) custom hlcd 2000 watt stereo, v drive 500 hours, 2nd owner, acme 911 prop,1200 lbs ballast. Was going to sell next year but I'd like to upgrade to something larger this year. I'll sell it to you or anyone on wakeworld for 20k before it goes on cl for 22k

This guy is really trying to sell this thing hard considering he bought it roughly a year ago for like $12k.

So what? He paid 13k by the time he had the boat and he re-did the interior, so its not like he's making a huge amount if cash on it. And who cares if he does make some cash on it? 20K is still a pretty good price.

So what? He paid 13k by the time he had the boat and he re-did the interior, so its not like he's making a huge amount if cash on it. And who cares if he does make some cash on it? 20K is still a pretty good price.

I agree. What he paid for it is irrelevant. 20k is still a good price on that boat.

plus he knew a friend and went thru a lot of trouble just to get it all worked out and took some risk on it. i paid 14.5 for mine and wouldnt hesitate to list it for 22k looking to get 20k for it. i have put 3k into it though all my work so there is some value for my time.

Congrats on the search. I'll make a thousand or two in the end. New fuel pump, 1k service, 1k in back taxes, 1k in upholstery, 1k in stereo upgrades, 1k in ballast, etc. Am I not allowed to sell it for more than I paid? Does that offend you somehow? 20k is still less than anything equivalent.

plus he knew a friend and went thru a lot of trouble just to get it all worked out and took some risk on it. i paid 14.5 for mine and wouldnt hesitate to list it for 22k looking to get 20k for it. i have put 3k into it though all my work so there is some value for my time.

Thanks. I took a large risk buying it. I had to pay a friends debt to the bank, and trust they would provide me the title when they received it (which took 4 months).

After all that work on the garage to house it and it barely fits you're going bigger?

I can't store it in my garage on a weekly basis anyways, it takes 45 minutes to get it shoehorned in. My neighbor has covered storage I can use. Id like an 06+ wakesetter, doesn't necessarily have to be larger.

I can't store it in my garage on a weekly basis anyways, it takes 45 minutes to get it shoehorned in. My neighbor has covered storage I can use. Id like an 06+ wakesetter, doesn't necessarily have to be larger.

Ya, that's a long setup and take down time. Good for the winter, but terribly long during the season.

Congrats. I have an 01 Elite V, and I've loved it. I'd go ahead and get on onlyinboards and order perfect pass soon. My only complaints with my Elite V have been that it was hard to hold consistent speed and that the speedometers jumped around. Adding Star Gazer fixed both.